People displaced by the conflict in Syria stay in improvised shelters in the gymnasium of an abandoned school. The school served as a reception center, providing temporary accommodation for newly arrived refugees. The number of asylum-seekers crossing the border from Turkey into Bulgaria rose sharply during 2013, to around 8,000. Most came from Syria or Afghanistan. Bulgaria, one of the poorest countries in the European Union, struggled to cope with the influx. The reception center had no heating or hot water, and the government could offer those living there no food or healthcare. Countries worldwide offered only 18,000 places to the nearly 2.4 million Syrian refugees.

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Alessandro Penso studied clinical psychology at Rome's La Sapienza University. In 2007, he received a scholarship to study photojournalism at the Scuola Romana di Fotografia. Since he completed his studies, his work has won several awards, including the PDN Photo Student Award, the PDN Photo Annual Award, Px3, the Project Launch Award in Santa Fe 2011, and the Terry O' Neill TAG Award 2012.